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American Primeval is a Netflix western limited series set in 1857 in the Utah Territory. The story dramatizes the historical events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The series follows Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin) a mother fleeing an abusive husband along with her son travel across the terrain to get to the west. They are aided by a tracker named Isaac (Taylor Kitsch) and Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier) who were both from Indian tribes and help guide the family. They have to navigate conflicts between pioneers, the U. S. Army, the Mormon militia, and various Indian tribes. The Mormons were the cause of many massacres while they were en route to capture Sara and get their rewards. Jacob (Dane DeHaan) along with his wives of which Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) are caught in the massacre and torn apart. Joe Tippett and Jai Courtney play vigilantes to capture Sara. Shea Whigham owns and operates the last fort in Utah before Brigham Young (Kim Coates) buys him out. We don't get to know the backstories of the characters but the series is very violent, gritty and accelerating. I loved the rawness of the story, the hardship, tough battles the pioneers had to overcome the ruthless savagery. This is a series I would definitely rewatch, Mark L. Smith did a great job on bringing in the right actors and using the beautiful landscape of our beautiful nation.

Frankenstein is yet another film adopted from Mary Shelley's novel but this time Guillermo Del Toro is retelling the classic story on Netflix. Guillermo does not recreate the original but rather focuses on the relationship between the antagonist, the villain Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) and his Creature (Jacob Elordi). The storyline follows Victor and his obsession to create his Creature and his subsequent rejection of his creation and finally the chase that ends in the Arctic Circle. This isn't your typical story, it wasn't to scare you, it was the love of the father with his son. The movie did have some glimpses of Mary's vision but Guillermo added characters like Uncle Harlander (Christopher Waltz) who helped finance Victor's passion only to use him for his own motive to cure his ailments. The love interest and mother figure we're played by the same actress Mia Goth. Felix Kammerer and Charles Dance play Victor's younger brother and ruthless father which neither were mentioned in the book. We got a glimpse of Victor's upbringing by his mother and the vigorous teachings by his famous surgeon father. David Bradley plays the Blind Man who helps teach the Creature how to read and how to speak. Lars Mikkelsen plays Captain Anderson who listens to both sides of the stories by Victor and the Creature to share with world of what actually transpired. I loved how Guillermo used colors, the backgrounds, the authenticity of the sets to bring the story to life. His representation of the classic story that he produces have the same meaning and same ending very much like Pinocchio and Shape of Water. I highly recommend adding this to your library, it was very enjoyable to watch with the family.

Santa Clarita Diet is a Netflix dark comedy splatter horror series about the Hammond Family who live in Santa Clarita, California. Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore play Joel and Shiela Hammond who are local real estate agents and Shiela ends up eating a bad oyster that makes her undead. The family must deal with her cravings while trying to find a cure. Their daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) and her best friend/neighbor Eric (Skylar Gisondo) try to help cover up for her parents even if it means getting involved in the dark side of their new reality. One of Shiela's first murders was Nathan Fillon but his head survives and is voiced by Alan Tudyk. By the second season, Shiela starts falling apart and they bring in Dr. Wolf (Portia De Rossi) who specializes in the undead. Their neighbors are played by Ricardo Chavira and Mary Elizabeth Ellis as a married couple whose husband is a corrupt cop. Their other neighbor Richard T. Jones is also a cop and he is married to Joy Osmanski. In the meantime the kids are dealing with common school problems especially bullying while using the school principal who is played by Thomas Lennon. The third and final season a mysterious organization lead by Goran Visnjic tries to get hold of Shiela for her undead blood. There were plenty of guest stars from Joel McHale and Maggie Lawson as real estate competitors along with Andy Richter as the Hammond's obnoxious boss. Natalie Morales acts as Dan's former partner and becomes romantically involved with Lisa after Dan goes missing. Unfortunately the series gets canceled and ends on a cliffhanger if Joel would become undead and live happily ever after with Shiela. I loved this comedy, it was fun and silly with lovable characters. I didn't think highly of this series but eventually ended up watching it again with the family. If you are into zombie shows definitely check this out.